Results after 4 and 6 weeks

Apr 27, 2011

Hi Doc, thanks for all your help. I just got my results and here they go (after 6 weeks of Atripla treatment):
Week 6: VL 100 copies (still not undetectable). CD4 306 & 22%. Triglicerydes 224 mg/dl. VLDL 44 mg/dl. Uric Acid 7.2 mg/dl. M.C.H.C. 35.1 g/dl.
Week 4: VL 118 copies. CD4 276 & 21%. Triglicerydes 173 mg/dl. VLDL 34 mg/dl. Uric Acid 7.2 mg/dl. M.C.H.C. 34.1 g/dl.
I started my treatment with a VL of 66,000 and CD4 of 250.
I am worried that i am not undetectable yet. I take my Atripla always between 10pm and 12 (midnight). Never missed a dose. Should I start being concerned about treatment failure? I got a Genotype and no resistance detected. The tests were made with different test kits but same laboratory(first with <40 copies, second with a <20 copies. First with Abbot m2000 and second one with Cobas Taqman v2 Roche).
Any advices please? Can I be still undetectable? what's the window period to achieve undetectable? THank you very much.

Response from Dr. Young

Hello and thanks for your post.

Your labs show a very nice initial decline in viral load-- going from 66,000 to 118 in just 6 weeks is right on track--over a 99% reduction. I wouldn't be concerned at all; we usually expect people with average viral loads (like you) to reach undetectable levels by 4-6 months.

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